Two Missions
by DefinitelyDeviant
Summary: Tsunade must be trying to kill Hatake Kakashi, because she assigns him two missions with Umino Iruka. In the first one Kakashi ends up wounded, immobile, and trapped in a cave with Iruka just barely keeping him alive. The second one, well, he must be getting punished for something. (AUish Takes place in the Naruto Universe, but doesn't follow canon exactly)
1. Mission 1: Day 1 (Part 1)

Two Missions

Mission 1: Day 1 (Part 1)

* * *

It had taken Kakashi a long time to master the art of waking up without appearing to wake up. Well, it felt like it took him a long time to figure it out, but he still managed to master it a lot faster than most ninjas. The hard thing had been learning to control his heart and breath rate even while sleepily rousing. Any change to his heart rate, faster breathing, anything, could alert an enemy that he was awake, and Kakashi didn't want that.

Especially when Kakashi wasn't entirely sure where he was.

He fought a groan as sensation started to come to him. The middle of his torso, beneath his chest but above his stomach, felt like it had been taken out by a hatchet. This seemed unlikely, and more like an exaggeration of the pain. His upper left thigh hurt too, worse, if possible. He could figure out what had happened to him later, right now he had to figure out where he was.

He could tell he was on a mat, the kind provided for missions, and underneath it there was cold, hard earth. The air was wet, but in a cool, dank way as opposed to a hot humid way. The air smelled stale and muddy, and he could hear the constant roar of water. He could make out the light footsteps of someone approaching, and though he could tell who it was based on smell alone, it was still a relief to feel the familiar chakra signature and hear the familiar voice.

"Kakashi-sensei?" it whispered.

Kakashi allowed his eye to open betraying himself. He was lying on his back and had a rather good view of a rocky ceiling. He heard a sigh of relief and tilted his head just slightly so that he could take in the sight of his companion.

"Iruka-sensei," he said. It felt like his mouth was full of cotton balls. For a second the desire for water outweighed his desire to know where he was and what was going on.

As if reading his mind, Iruka produced a canteen and then hesitated. Kakashi carefully assessed his arms. It hurt to use the right one, but hurt more to use the left. Either way, sitting up on his own seemed impossible. Iruka once again read his mind and set the canteen down. He got down on one knee by the CopyNin.

"I can lift you up so that your back is against the wall." '_Which will hurt a lot'_ was left unsaid.

Kakashi tucked his chin just a fraction. When Iruka hesitated he wondered if the teacher couldn't see well enough in the dark or if he didn't recognize his gesture for what it was, a go ahead. Iruka leaned over Kakashi and grabbed his ribcage. Kakashi didn't flinch even if the teacher's hands were dangerously close to his stomach wound. Iruka lifted his hands a little higher, under Kakashi's armpits, and seemed to decide that a fast approach would be best, like ripping off a bandaid.

Kakashi didn't scream, or cuss, or whimper, but he squeezed his one visible eye shut and fought the urge to vomit. Vomit what, he wasn't sure, he didn't think there could be anything in his stomach. He opened his eye and realized that the teacher was still kneeing as his side, looking at him with something that look suspiciously like pity, or maybe it was worry?

Kakashi let out a breath and tried to assess what he knew. Start with what he knew first hand to be true, then get Iruka's version of events, and then speculate.

He was in a cave. The opening of which was guarded by a waterfall. He hated caves.

Iruka-sensei, the quick to anger Chuunin, was with him. They had been on a mission together.

He had been wounded, his stomach and thigh felt like they had been chewed open with a rusty saw. He was suffering from chakra depletion. He couldn't gather any chakra to help ease his wounds. He could remember being attacked by missing nin on their way back to Konoha.

He was wounded, immobile, and trapped in a cave with Umino Iruka.

'_Wonderful,'_ he thought dryly.

* * *

Mission 1 is written and Mission 2 is planned. Beta readers and anyone who just wants to talk about the story and bounce ideas around are welcome to message me. SERIOUSLY. Don't be shy. I haven't worked out all the kinks, so talking about this story with someone would be nice. You don't have to be good at grammar to beta, I mostly want someone who will point out instances where there's not enough detail, or stuff doesn't make sense, or where I have Kakashi or Iruka's history wrong.


	2. Mission 1: Day 1 (Part 2)

Mission 1: Day 1 Part 2

AN: I may tweak the mission details a little bit later on, if I do I'll edit the chapter and mention it in the AN so that anyone who wants to see the edits can go back and check them out.

This fic has mature content, but it is not very explicit. The explicit version of this story is on my AO3 account.

I'm still looking for a beta reader or someone who just wants to read ahead and let me know what they think, ;)

* * *

_Flashback: Kakashi receives his mission._

Kakashi dropped through the window and into the Hokage's office. He looked around, somewhat disappointed that he hadn't interrupted the Hokage. Tsunade was sitting on the edge of her desk, a beige scroll unrolled in her lap. The large desk was covered in scrolls, most of them decorated or in more interesting colors than beige. Those would have more ceremonial value, or were expected to last a great while.

Tsunade waved her hand slightly, like she was shooing a fly. It was a vague gesture that Kakashi took to mean that she had to finish a train of thought but would be with him in a second. He looked away, bored, and thought he could see Tsunade's personal betting scroll peaking out of a desk drawer. Now that would be fun to get his hands on and see what sort of bets she had going. Maybe if he-

"I have a mission for you," Tsunade's voice cut through the room.

Kakashi looked at her, his hands in his pockets, trying to appear disinterested even though he was itching to get a mission. Not that he didn't mind training Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura. They were always improving, and together they were easily a match for him. But Kakashi was starting to wonder if he was being retired without his knowledge. His students were Chuunin now, and didn't officially, technically need him. The Hokage always complained about being short on ninja, and yet she consistently shot down the suggestion to reinstate him as ANBU. Kakashi was starting to wonder if he was being put on ice, or just a glorified babysitter for the Nine-Tails host Naruto and the ex-traitor Sasuke.

"Most of the Jounin are tied up, so I'm sending you with a Chuunin," Tsunade continued, watching him with her eyes narrowed.

Kakashi narrowed his eye at her. He thought of the Chuunin he knew. It couldn't be Naruto because the council had him under temporary village arrest, a result of his rather impressive, and dangerous, display of demon chakra on his last mission. Something about the seal, and dangerous, and letting the Kyuubi loose, and blah blah blah. Sasuke was under a temporary village arrest, although it was a more subtle "we aren't going to give you any mission above a B rank, or which takes you too far from the village, or which doesn't have an appropriate chaperone."

The two frequently complained about the C and D-rank missions they were getting saddled with. It didn't seem to occur to them that as their unofficial Jounin instructor, Kakashi was being unfairly suffocated with mundane genin appropriate missions and constant fights between Sasuke and Naruto.

There was a brief glimmer of hope as Kakashi wondered if Sakura would be the Chuunin accompanying him. That hope soured rather quickly though. If he was getting the details of the mission alone, without the Chuunin there, it was likely because Tsunade felt she needed to warn him, or give him the opportunity to complain without the Chuunin there to witness his reaction.

"I need Sakura here," Tsunade added. If she really did need Sakura for something, she didn't offer what for.

So it was a Chuunin, and Tsunade didn't think he was going to be happy. Kakashi thought of the rookie nine, all of whom were Chuunin now, on their way to becoming Jounin. He didn't see what would be so bad about being stuck with Hinata, or Chouji, or Shino. Sure, he didn't know them, but it was a mission. He could be professional.

"The Chuunin is Umino Iruka," Tsunade finally offered.

Kakashi figured he could still be professional with the man, even if most of his interaction with Umino Iruka was limited to the man yelling at him for his mission reports.

"Okay, so who else?" Kakashi asked. There should be two more ninja assigned in order to make the typical four person cell.

"No one, it's just you two," Tsunade's mouth quirked up a little bit.

Kakashi wanted to tell her no. He wanted to ask her if the village had suddenly run so out of capable ninja that she felt like she could halve the team. Two people missions weren't unheard of, but Tsunade made it sound as though she had no choice. As if she wanted to put another Jounin on it but couldn't. He considered making a joke about how he wasn't sure Iruka-sensei could even remember the last mission he had been on, since it had likely been so long ago. It would have been meant more to ruffle Tsunade's feathers rather than an actual slam aimed at Iruka. He didn't say anything though, since it was unlikely that anything he could have said would have swayed Tsunade anyways. Well, that and Tsunade looked like she would enjoy fighting him on this one.

"What's the mission?" he finally asked, taking the Hokage by surprise.

Tsunade rolled up the scroll in her lap. "You deliver this scroll to the Kage of Mist. She gives you a scroll, and you bring it back to me. Easy enough."

And it would be easy enough, if Mist wasn't struggling to control their missing Nin population, or if Kakashi was assigned to work with a four person cell. Or at least a Jounin. And he wasn't trying to be unfairly critical. He didn't really know enough about Iruka to be critical, but from what he knew of the Chuunin, Iruka-sensei didn't take many missions, and Kakashi had never heard of him sparring or training with anyone, and honestly, the Chuunin practically lived behind a desk. That didn't mean that he was incapable, but it also wasn't a raving indication that he could handle an A rank delivery mission to a dangerous nation with an incomplete cell.

Kakashi wondered if it would be worth it to passively suggest she wait a day or two until a Jounin became free. "Give me the mission details."

* * *

"You're not injured," Kakashi said. It wasn't really a question, but Iruka responded like it was.

"No, not really. I took a kick to the chest, and fell a few times while carrying you, but mostly I'm just suffering from Chakra depletion," Iruka said.

'_You and me both,'_ Kakashi thought.

Kakashi was sitting upright against the cave wall. There would be no more lying on his back. It would be easier to change his bandages if he was already upright, and he would be able to defend himself better if they were found. Kakashi tried not to sigh bitterly. The cave they were in was large, with a high ceiling. Though it was dark, Kakashi could tell that there was no exit towards the back of the cave. A hideout with only one entrance was easier to defend, but harder to escape from if they were surrounded. The cave didn't seem all that discreet at all, though Iruka assured him that you couldn't tell there was a cave behind the waterfall from the other side. Kakashi had his doubts though. A large cave like this probably wasn't a secret.

When he pointed as much out to Iruka, the other man let out a harsh breath, and asked Kakashi if he'd rather take his chances out there. Responding with _'it's not my fault you picked a shitty place to hide out'_ seemed somewhat… harsh, considering that the other man had had to find a place to hide quickly before Kakashi died from blood loss.

"I mostly stay away from hand to hand combat," Iruka offered, "although my taijutsu isn't bad."

Kakashi nodded. He knew this much about the man. The Chuunin seemed to be able to think under pressure, and relied on planning, deception, and stealth to take on adversaries.

"I'm surprised you're awake to be honest," Iruka said. Quickly he added, "I'm relieved! With all the blood loss I wasn't sure…"

Kakashi was mildly impressed that he was awake. He was certainly struggling. The blood loss made him feel lightheaded and like he would feint at a moment's notice. Still, it wasn't an unfamiliar feeling. If his body had its way he would fall under again.

The academy instructor was sitting against the far wall of the cave, his legs extended in front of him. Kakashi tried not to stare at the way the Chuunin tapped his foot restlessly. Iruka was also constantly shifting, tucking his legs, untucking them, standing, stretching, sitting. At first Kakashi thought that it was from the discomfort of not having a mat to sit on on the hard cave floor (they had lost one of their packs in the struggle), but he quickly realized that Iruka was just a restless person. A fidgety, loud, restless person.

Iruka looked down at his foot as if realizing what he was doing, and Kakashi used the opportunity to take a sip from the canteen. It was difficult, and painful, but he managed to pull his mask down with the same hand holding the canteen, take a sip, and pull his mask up before Iruka realized what he was doing.

Not that Iruka had done or said anything to suggest that he was curious about Kakashi's face, but Kakashi knew how other nin got when they realized he wasn't going to take his mask off. Nope, not even if the other man had managed to save his life.

Not that the other man seemed to care about catching a glimpse of his face.

Kakashi mentally went over the list of supplies they had knowing he would likely fall asleep before he made it through the list fully. It seemed better than watching Iruka fidget. It was definitely better than reliving the memory of the battle and trying to figure out how he had ended up half dead with an academy instructor keeping him alive.

* * *

Kakashi awoke to find himself alone in the cave. His stomach turned slightly as he wondered what the other ninja was up to. Kakashi had slept a lot the past day, but when he woke up it was usually because of the way Iruka restlessly moved about the cave. The man paced, frequently. He took to going through the pack, counting and recounting their supplies. A few times Kakashi looked over and found Iruka redoing his pony tail. The less than clean hair would come down, and Iruka would push his hands through it, and try to undo imagined tangles, and then he would put it back up in the signature ponytail. Each new ponytail had looked worse than the last one, but that didn't stop Iruka.

Kakashi thought he had figured Iruka out. Iruka was chronically overreacting to adrenalin. While most ninja got used to adrenaline, the way it would hit hard and fizzle out slowly, Iruka seemed oddly susceptible to it. It was like he couldn't ignore the adrenaline in his veins, couldn't push it down, and instead he ended up giving into it. The adrenalin told Iruka he had to do something, had to be in constant action. There wasn't a lot to do in the cave though, so it manifested itself in surprising ways.

If Kakashi were capable, he would have knocked the other man out by now. That at least would seem merciful. But Kakashi was in no position to move, let alone defend their cave. He had tried once, unsuccessfully, to point out to the other ninja that fidgeting wasn't very ninja like.

"Iruka-sensei," he had said.

"Mmn?" The other responded.

"You're making too much noise. Stop fidgeting so much."

The Chuunin apparently didn't like being told off though, because he leveled a glare at Kakashi. "That waterfall is so loud, no one can hear me."

"I can," Kakashi said simply. He didn't even think it was that rude, but Iruka just rolled his eyes, said "sorry" in a way that left no doubt that he wasn't sorry at all, and said he was going to go see if any of his snares had caught anything.

Kakashi realized after that incident that making Iruka angry just increased his urge to do something. Kakashi tried not to talk to the other man, not entirely certain why every other thing he said frustrated the man. Plus, he wasn't entirely sure he trusted that the instructor wouldn't snap and yell at him, which would risk betraying their location. The instructor could get pretty loud.

So when he woke up alone, he resolved not to tell the other man off. At least not overly harshly. Seriously. If Iruka had to get more food or check his snares or maintain the perimeter around their cave, he could do it while Kakashi was awake. At least then Kakashi wouldn't be totally defenseless in their dank hellhole. Waking up alone though, realizing that he could have been found and would have been sleeping under the false assumption that Iruka was keeping watch made him want to tie the man down. Yes, if the teacher's feet and hands were tied together he wouldn't be able to pace or abandon Kakashi to fend for himself.

Not that Kakashi was completely defenseless, but he was certainly vulnerable.

Kakashi heard familiar footsteps on the rocks outside the cave, and watched the opening of the cave for Iruka's return. Sure enough, the brown haired ninja stepped into view.

Iruka seemed to freeze when he realized Kakashi was awake. Kakashi hoped for a moment that the other ninja realized his error and was hesitating to see if the CopyNin was going to call him out again. Well, so long as he realized his mistake Kakashi didn't see much reason to get into a fight over-

'_Oh.'_

Kakashi worried for a second that his senses were playing tricks on him. That perhaps the smell of blood, and sweat, and cave were corrupting his ability to smell. Iruka walked to his spot on the other side of the cave, across from Kakashi, but his movement made the smell more distinct. No, Kakashi's nose wasn't playing tricks on him. Iruka really did smell like he'd just gotten off. The smell of release pretty distinct.

Kakashi wanted to glare at the man, but thought it would save them both a great deal of embarrassment if he just pretended like he was bored, like he hadn't noticed.

In the wake of this discovery he forgot to tell the Chuunin not to sneak out while he was sleeping.

* * *

AN: I love hearing from readers so don't be shy! Feel free to review or PM me.


End file.
